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Comment by zokier | Hacker News Reader

>2. This would allow us to literally 3D print structures on the surface and allow us to significantly decrease the amount of materials we need to transport to the surface in order to build a habitat.

Could you explain the connection here? What does water have to do with 3D-printing?

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I think he is using 3D printing synonymously with on-site fabrication of components. Not quite the same, but similar.

Or he means literally 3D-print structures using water, which will freeze in the Martian atmosphere to form water ice - which is actually a pretty great structural material if used appropriately.

Unfortunately, exposed ice will sublimate pretty quickly. You could possibly use it as a bulk structural material when covered, and certainly for radiation shielding.

You can also use water for holding your pressurized structures together: bolt some pipes to your structure, bury them, pour liquid water through the pipes and into the soil, let it freeze, and you've got anchors made of ice.

Aye, true that. Well, cover it in mylar, and it was rads I was thinking of predominantly. You could potentially make something like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pykrete using martian topsoil.

Molding would be more suitable here. The time to 3D print a piece is a cubic function of volume, making it suboptimal for larger structures.

Even with that (ab)use of the term 3D printing, I don't see the connection of on-site fabrication and water.

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